Friday, June 03, 2005

Mr. Sun-Clouds

I've got a new pair of "shades". This is the first pair that has my distance prescription. I had to get them because I didn't pass the DMV's eye test without my distance glasses. I've been wearing my "Maui Jims" over my bi-focals. It drives Betty crazy. The new pair are custom made in that they don't make "Sun-Clouds" anymore but the oculist(?) who now works for a vendor connected with my optomitrist, Dr. Goldstein, used to work for Sun-clouds and has the old formula. What's so special about sun-clouds? They are rose tinted and reflective. Yes, I prefer seeing the world now through "rose-colored glasses". That's not surprising is it?

Actually these are so extreme that they can make June gloom look rather sunny. They also sharpen the images. I read in the newspaper today that a certain baseball player uses an rose-amber lens in one eye, blue in the other to get a sharper image on the in-coming pitch. I don't know about distance acuity with them. I do know the navy uses red-running lights on its battleships at night because the usual blue-green can be spotted better from a distance by the enemy. My guess is that the shorter rays of the spectrum, red, violet, rose do not scatter as much as blue, green etc. That's the reason the sky is blue? I'm not much of a scientist.

So, I'm feeling like Mr. "Joe Cool" again. The warm rays have a way of keeping me cool and non-reactive to potentially heated confrontations, especially on the road. They help me chill. Kind of an interesting reversal. I've heard of "seeing red" referring to being really mad. Then of course there are the matadors capes of red for the bulls. I think that is more the flairing movement though. I think the "women in red" or "lady in red" or the "red shoes" are all referring to her attractiveness and easiness. And, of course, there is the connection to blood red and a sanguine temperment. Then you have the beautiful "Sangre de Cristo" mountains in New Mexico. Red sails in the sunset. Red skies at night, sailor's delight. Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning." Enough of this free association.

My point here is that my distance vision is still very important to me. It is almost as important as the shades and tones of sound and harmony. Yes, to me the two are connected. I do hear colors and they give me definite feelings. Music is more a performance medium and more immediate. Bathing the room or landscape in color and a rose tint is more long-lasting but it also can set the mood with me. Close harmony, as in barbershop harmony can produce intense warm/cool feelings by the richness of the tones and overtones. I'm sure they are all related or connected in some way. Some of my more blissful moments have to do with sound and color. How about you? Bob